Even without camera trickery, his sleight of hand leaves a lot to be desired. I saw him doing a trick where he made coffee go through a table, and the switch under the table to an already filled cup was one of the most obvious things I've ever seen in a magic trick.

I once saw a street magician walking around, He asked someone to pick a number, They said i don't know 24? And he walked off. Then further along he asked someone else and so on....there was a camera with him. So they obviously wait until someone said the right number then proceed to do the 'trick' Not always a stooge, because the person wasn't aware he had been asking others.

I once saw a street magician walking around, He asked someone to pick a number, They said i don't know 24? And he walked off. Then further along he asked someone else and so on....there was a camera with him. So they obviously wait until someone said the right number then proceed to do the 'trick' Not always a stooge, because the person wasn't aware he had been asking others.

One of the early Derren Brown shows had him playing Rock Paper Scissors outside a football ground. He played many times and always won. Brilliant trick? It was only afterwards that I realised that they simply did not show the times when he lost. D'oh!

One of the early Derren Brown shows had him playing Rock Paper Scissors outside a football ground. He played many times and always won. Brilliant trick? It was only afterwards that I realised that they simply did not show the times when he lost. D'oh!

There is a sort of genius to that i think, You look for the complex answer and miss the blatantness of it all. Oh they are in on it, He makes them think this or that....No, They show what they need you to see. Brilliantly simple.

The best magician ive ever seen was one who was doing tricks at a private function. All his tricks were close up and absolutely flawless. He wasnt well known then (he isnt that well known now tbh) but he was so good to see. When you see bavid blaine, dynamo etc about 90% of it is camera tricks and stooges.

Let's take two examples : the collapsing dummy in the store and the fish in a bucket.

In both cases, the crowd saw how it was done, unless they cleared the public away at the bits they intended to cut out.

Yet in both cases the crowd managed to look astonished.

(I'm using "cut out" for simplicity. The cheating can be done by stopping and starting the camera, in some cases by turning the camera upside down, or by leaving it running and doing everything by editing. Obviously, the latter would be more accurate).

It's also worthy of note that the early shows used to show a "celebrity booker" in the credits - all the "celebrities" he kept bumping into were paid for.